Cops and Courts: Jan. 16, 2013: Owner of wandering cow to be cited

A local rancher can expect a ticket for allowing a cow to wander onto the road Monday, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The CHP got a call early Monday reporting that a black cow was in the road near Whiting Road and Serpa Lane at 5:41 a.m., officers said.

At 5:43 a.m., dispatchers reported that "no one on Serpa has anything to do with the cow," and that "the cow is actually lying down in the roadway."

Officer Sarah Jackson said an officer "was out there with the cow for quite some time, trying to determine who it belonged to and get it contained. Others in the area reported that this particular cow has been loose several times. As a result, this cow owner can expect a citation."

The CHP plans to cite the owner for violating Santa Cruz County Code Section 6.12.120(a), Jackson said. The section prohibits an owner of livestock or other animals from allowing them to be "at large." Court officials say that ticket will run about $200.

The CHP responds to calls of loose animals regularly, she said.

At 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a call about two horses loose in the 1500 block of Green Valley Road in Corralitos, she said. The officer was able to get the horses in a neighbor's pasture, she said.

SANTA CRUZ

Man sought in gun brandishing

Police are looking for a 28-year-old man suspected of brandishing a gun at his girlfriend in an Ocean Street parking lot Monday night.

Anthony Toste brandished the gun during an argument with his 20-year-old girlfriend in the parking lot of a bar on the 700 block of Ocean Street about 8:55 p.m., said Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark.

He wanted her to get in his car, but she refused, police said. He then pulled out a handgun, waved it around and said he would shoot her if she didn't get in the car, said Clark.

The woman ran into the bar and called 911. Toste fled in the car.

Toste then called 911 to report a stabbing at a fast-food restaurant on Ocean Street -- a false report to divert police attention, Clark said.

Police are seeking a warrant for Toste. Authorities said they have probable cause to arrest him on suspicion of gun brandishing, attempted kidnapping, domestic battery and making a false report of an emergency.

A fire damaged an outdoor shed and a storage facility on Josephine Street on Monday, Santa Cruz fire officials said.

Fire units were dispatched to the area of River and Josephine streets for multiple reports of trees on fire just before 10 p.m. Crews arriving at the scene found an outside shed, trash receptacle and a car in various stages of catching fire, Battalion Chief Mike Venezio said.

The fire was starting to get into a storage locker facility with about 20 to 30 units, Venezio said. Crews were able to prevent the blaze from entering the facility, but the roof and overhang had to be opened to extinguish hidden fire. No damage was done to the interior, and no injuries were reported.

The fire was determined to be electrical in nature or caused by combustibles located too close to a heating device. The property owner told firefighters he'd been allowing a transient man to stay there.

SANTA CRUZ

Man pleads not guilty in assault case

Joseph Louis Roisman of Watsonville pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of assault to commit rape and indecent exposure, a prosecutor said.

Santa Cruz County Judge Ariadne Symons set a preliminary hearing for Jan. 28 and appointed the public defender's office to represent him.

Roisman, 27, was arrested in Watsonville's Apple Hills neighborhood Friday, after a 50-year-old woman said he exposed himself to her and then committed an unwanted sexual advance.

Roisman was arrested in 2006 as well, as part of a sting featured on NBC Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" show, after taking a bus to Petaluma to meet a decoy posing as a 13-year-old girl, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported at the time.

Then a 21-year-old serving in the Navy, he was found not guilty in 2011 when Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Arthur Wick ruled midway through trial prosecutors failed to prove Roisman had specific intent to commit attempted lewd acts with a child under age 14.

Roisman remains in Santa Cruz County Jail with bail set at $25,000.

SAN JOSE

Appellate court throws out appeal in pimping case

An appeals court ruled that a man convicted of pimping in Santa Cruz County isn't entitled to additional good conduct credit time.

Adrian Devon Corbray was convicted in 2011 of five counts of pimping and pandering involving a 17-year-old girl in Santa Cruz. The Sacramento man was then sentenced to four years in state prison.

In his appeal, Corbray contended he should have received more credit for time served before he was sentenced based on changes in state law. The changes were made after Corbray's offenses were committed but before he was sentenced.

The amended law declared the changes would only apply prospectively, but Corbray argued that declaration violates his right to equal protection of the laws.

The 6th District Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled the Santa Cruz County Court correctly calculated Corbray's pre-sentence credit for time served based on state law.